Promises
by dauntlessblackhawk
Summary: Natasha always tries to keep her promises, especially one that means so much to Clint. Clintasha one shot with some Christmas feels.


******Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, have no affiliation with the Marvel Universe and whatsoever. If I did, there would already be a Clintasha movie out there (how I wish). **

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**A/N: Got this idea from honestly nowhere at all. It's Christmassy though 2013's Christmas is most likely over wherever you are; at least it is already here where I am now. Enjoy! :)**

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'_I promise I'm going to be back by the 25th, okay?'_ He didn't respond and didn't look at her either, so she just continued, _'Barton, this isn't my first solo mission and it's only going to be a few days. Don't worry and don't you dare do anything stupid while I'm gone.'_ And with that, Natasha left him in their apartment on the outskirts of town, on a so-called 'easy' covert SHIELD mission to retrieve information from an illegal drug trafficking company that was believed to be also assisting an enemy building powerful weapons.

That was two weeks ago, just about a month after New York.

The first week had passed relatively quickly for him; he punched the living soul out of fifty -three punching bags and shot a zillion arrows onto a thousand cardboard targets. Then came the second, when he started doubting himself more and more, when he started having worse nightmares every night, when he started feeling almost suicidal, if he would ever admit that. He locked himself up in his room and did nothing but drink. Drowning his guilt and self-loathe and also drinking away the worry as he continuously cursed himself for not having gone with Natasha to watch her back. He thought drinking would make things better but it turned out he was wrong and if it was anything, it made him feel ever more bitter, lonely and depressed. Natasha's last words before she left kept repeating in his head. _Don't worry; it's only going to be a few days._ But it had been more than a week already and he was so clouded with fear and doubt that he couldn't even convince himself the slightest bit that his partner was going to be alright.

Christmas had always been a big thing for him even during his years in the circus. It was his favourite festival and he always tried to celebrate it one way or another. Since Natasha walked into his life, they never missed celebrating Christmas. She had been almost repulsive at the idea of celebrating a festival at first, but after a year, she gave in to his persuasions. They always had a warm and nicely cooked meal on Christmas day and on a few occasions even afforded the time to decorate their own tiny Christmas tree.

She knew how important Christmas was to him and she also knew however lame it may sound, the only thing he wanted for Christmas was for her to be by his side.

_She's not coming back now_, he thought, _all because of me, because I didn't go with her, because I killed a bunch of SHIELD's good men, because I betrayed everyone, because I was and still am too useless._

A few days turned to a week, then fourteen days and when it was finally Christmas Eve, eighteen days after his partner left for her solo mission, Clint couldn't take it anymore. He hadn't spoken to anyone at all since she left except the few unsuccessful attempts on trying to force out information on Natasha's mission from Hill and Fury. From the second he picked up the first bottle of ale, he couldn't stop drinking. After all, it did help him lift off at least a bit of the huge weight upon his shoulders and his heart. There was no point of being excited for Christmas if Natasha wasn't coming back.

_She was his everything._

That made him threw his head back in a bitter, hysterical laugh. He gulped down the rest of the bottle of beer in his hand and fell unconscious in his own pool of puke.

How he managed to crawl into his bed, he had absolutely no idea, but the first thing he saw when he blinked open his heavy eyelids the next morning, was red. Then as he refocused his still dilated pupils, he saw her stunning green eyes staring back at him, with a smile tugging playfully on the corners of her full, red lips.

'Merry Christmas, Clint,' she said with a most glorious and beautiful smile as he continued staring at her as if he had just seen a ghost. The sun light that was shining in through the opened curtains almost formed a halo on her and it made her glow. Behind her, he saw a small tree and a few plastic bags of colourful decorations and ornaments lying beside it. No way, did she really buy all these while he was drunk and unconscious?

'Tasha? Is that really you?' he croaked out, his voice rough and broken from drinking too much alcohol.

'I'm here, I told you not to worry and to not do anything stupid while I'm gone, looks like you didn't listen to me at all,' she said with a small grin then leaned in to peck a kiss onto his forehead.

'I missed you,' he whispered as he tried to reach out to her but felt his arms go numb. Then he forced himself to raise a hand to cup her face, to confirm to himself that she was real, that she was back, that she didn't leave him. Then he tried to lean in for a real kiss before she slapped his hand away.

'Clean yourself up and brush your teeth first before you expect this to go any further,' she ordered, her grin spreading into a wide and playful one. He groaned and got out of bed.

'You're coming with me though,' he said, finally smiling after so long, as he pulled her by her slim waist into the tiny bathroom with him, following by a small giggle from her as the bathroom door shut.

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**A.N: Well, so did you like it? It's so fluffy I can't even. Hahaha. Oh well, please review to tell me what you think about this! **

**This work is actually for 'Clintasha Week' on tumblr, where Clintasha shippers create any kind of work including gif sets, edits, fan fictions, fan art etc. to celebrate this beautiful couple. Check out my tumblr? .com **

**I hope to see you soon and Merry Christmas! :)**

**P.S. Don't forget to review! They seriously make my day!**


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